Ferris State's Motte Chosen As National Winner Of Premier Player Award

Big Rapids, Mich. - Junior goaltender CJ Motte
(St. Clair, Mich.) of the Ferris State University men's ice hockey
squad has been chosen as the national winner of the 2014 Premier
Player of College Hockey Award.

The Premier Player Trophy is presented annually to collegiate
athletes the fans vote as the best in the sports of baseball,
basketball (M & W), football, hockey and softball. A poll is
released at the beginning of a sports season with a list of top
athletes for fans to follow. At midseason, the poll is
adjusted to include up to five additional highly performing
athletes. Fans then have until the end of the season to vote for
The Premier Player of his or her sport.

The five athletes with the most votes are later invited to a
charitable dinner where the overall winner is presented.
Proceeds from the charitable awards dinners go to The Premier
Players Sports Foundation and other nonprofits with a focus on
orphaned, foster care or special needs children.

Motte was joined on the list of five national finalists by Boston
College forward Johnny Gaudreau, senior forward Michael Mersch of
Wisconsin, junior defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere of Union along
with sophomore goalie Connor Hellebuyck of UMass-Lowell. However,
Motte received nearly 93% of the final vote in earning the
award.

Past winners of the prestigious honor have recently included St.
Cloud State's Drew LeBlanc in 2013 along with Minnesota-Duluth's
Jack Connolly in 2012.

Motte, who was also named as a top 10 finalist for the 2014 Hobey
Baker Award presented to college hockey's most outstanding player,
helped the Bulldogs to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association
(WCHA) Regular-Season Championship in their debut season. FSU also
finished as the WCHA Final Five Runner-Up and reached the NCAA
Elite Eight this past season.

This year, Motte moved into second place in career victories for a
Bulldog goaltender and now owns a 48-29-10 career record to date.
His 28 total wins in net this season ranked as the second-best
seasonal figure in school history behind the 30 wins posted by Mike
Brown in the memorable 2002-03 campaign.

Motte was also among the nominees for the inaugural Mike Richter
Goaltender of the Year honor and is the latest in a series of
talented Bulldog goaltenders over the past decade that most
recently also included former All-Americans Pat Nagle (2011) and
Taylor Nelson (2012). His total of 28 wins this season was three
more than any other goaltender in the country heading into the NCAA
Tournament.

The junior standout's play helped the Bulldogs compile a
nation-leading 29 victories overall, which ranks second on FSU's
all-time single season chart. He tallied an overall 28-9-3 mark in
net with five shutout victories along with a 2.17 goals against
average and a .928 save percentage this year while ranking among
the nation's top five leaders in winning percentage.

More information on the trophy presentation will be announced at a
later date.